Taichung's full metro network is decades away from completion, bad news for commuters and a political headache for the city government.

• City transit officials put the timeline for finishing all seven planned metro lines at 30 to 40 years.
• The Blue Line has been repeatedly delayed, and the underground downtown stretch will not start construction until next year.
• Changing the Blue Line route is blamed for adding about NT$100 billion to the cost, with the track contract still not awarded.
• The Orange Line's feasibility study sat with the central government for two years before approval this month, adding roughly NT$70 billion in costs.
• Both parties are blaming each other, tracing the mess back to the earlier decision to build BRT bus lanes instead of rail.

Outlook: Elevated sections of the Blue Line will move ahead while the costlier underground work slips to the next mayor, so delays and cost overruns are likely to keep growing.